Sri Chinmoy founded the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team in 1977 as a service to the running community and to promote physical fitness and self-transcendence through sports.
Sri Chinmoy was born in East Bengal, India (now Bangladesh) in 1931.
A talented and accomplished athlete in his youth, Sri Chinmoy was for 16 years the top-ranked sprinter and twice the decathlon champion in the spiritual community where he grew up. An all-round sportsman, he also excelled in soccer, volleyball and table tennis.
Since making his home in America in 1964 Sri Chinmoy, an avid sports enthusiast, continued to place emphasis upon the spiritual benefits of physical fitness ... particularly through running.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he was an active long distance runner, completing 22 marathons and 5 ultras
In 1981, to celebrate his 50th birthday, Sri Chinmoy along with several hundred of his students completed a 'Grand Prix' of 31 consecutive days of races ... a cumulative distance of 50 miles ... with events ranging from 400 metres to 5 miles
Sri Chinmoy also competed in track-and-field events and Masters Games ... including the 1983 World Masters Games in Puerto Rico and the 1993 World Veterans Games in Miyazaki, Japan.
In 1995, Sri Chinmoy participated in masters 100 metre races at invitational track meets at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra and at Athletic New Zealand's Mt Smart Athletics Stadium in Auckland.
For many years, particularly during the 1980's and 1990's, Sri Chinmoy played tennis almost every day - often practicing for 2, 3, or 4 hours at a time - such was his enthusiasm for the game.
In the mid 1980s Sri Chinmoy took up weight-lifting and over the years set several records in the calf-raise and the one-arm lift - including an astonishing 7,063 3/4 pound (3,205 kg) lift with the right arm on 30 January 1987.
Sri Chinmoy encouraged a balanced, intergral lifestyle and practiced sports not only for joy and to keep his body fit but also because he strongly felt that that the pursuit of physical fitness and the regular practice of sports provide key vehicles for personal growth.
Sri Chinmoy also saw sports providing a natural means for expressing his philosophy of self-transcendence ... that we can discover true, abiding happiness only when we set goals for ourselves and go beyond our previous standards and achievements.
Inspired by his example, many of Sri Chinmoy's students have attempted to stretch their own personal limits - some setting new records in various fields ... like running marathons and multi-day races, swimming the English Channel and climbing some of the worlds highest mountains.
Sri Chinmoy wrote and lectured extensively on the subject of running and training, and answered hundreds of questions on the importance of sports and physical fitness as avenues for inner progress and spiritual enlightenment.
"What gives life its value,
If not its constant cry
For self-transcendence?"
~Sri Chinmoy~
The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team
Over the years the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has become one of the world's largest sponsors of ultra-distance running.
In New York City, the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team organises ultra-marathon events ranging from 47 miles (75km), 6-10 day multidays to the the world's longest certified race - the annual Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race (5,000 kms).
The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team has also staged national 24-hour championships in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and 100 km championships in the U.K and New Zealand.
Sri Chinmoy - Running Personal Bests ... Masters Sprints to Ultra-marathons
Since coming to the West in 1964, Sri Chinmoy completed 241 races, including 22 marathons and 5 ultra-marathons ... the following is a chronicle of some of his own athletic endeavours:
11 Jul 1992 |
100m 13.67 seconds Sri Chinmoy Masters Games, Queens, NY |
11 Jul 1992 |
200m 29.69 seconds Sri Chinmoy Masters Games, Queens, NY |
27 Sep 1983 |
400m 72.66 seconds World Masters Games, San Juan, PR |
29 Jul 1981 |
800m 2:47 Sri Chinmoy Grand Prix, Queens, NY |
27 Jun 1982 |
1500m 6:30 Sri Chinmoy Race, Queens, NY |
02 Aug 1981 |
1 mile 6:23 Sri Chinmoy Grand Prix, Queens, NY |
29 Mar 1981 |
2 miles 13:42 (6:51 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Westport, CT |
06 Jun 1979 |
3 miles 22:21 (7:27 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Scottsdale, AZ |
17 May 1980 |
3.1 miles/5k 22:12 (7:09 pace) Great North Fork Footrace, Greenport, NY |
23 Mar 1980 |
3.5 miles 25:29 (7:09 pace) March Speed Run, Brooklyn, NY |
07 Aug 1982 |
4 miles* 30:33 (7:34 pace) Summer Blahs Race, Central Park, NY, NY |
11 July 1982 |
5 miles* 38:11 (7:38 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Queens, NY |
10 Oct 1981 |
6.2 miles/10k* 54:11 (8:48 pace) Foliage Run, Ringwood, NJ |
30 Mar 1980 |
7 miles 51:18 (7:19 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Fairfield, CT |
23 Sep 1979 |
10 miles 1:23:47 (8:23 pace) Sri Chinmoy Race, Greenwich, CT |
13 Sep 1981 |
13 miles* 2:01:30 (9:20 pace) Sri Chinmoy Marathon (first 13 miles), Plainsboro, NJ |
15 Nov 1981 |
13.1 miles* 1:55:24 (8:48 pace) Sri Chinmoy Half-Marathon, Queens, NY |
04 Oct 1981 |
15.5 miles/25k 2:30:35 (9:43 pace) New York City Marathon Tune-Up, Central Park, NY, NY |
25 Mar 1979 |
26.2 miles 3:55:07 (8:58 pace) Heart-Watchers Marathon, Toledo, OH |
27 Aug 1980 |
47 miles 11:27:24 (14:37 pace) Sri Chinmoy Ultramarathon, Queens, NY |
* The following are unofficial split times that surpass the above race times
27 Jul 1982 |
4 miles 30:21 Rhode Island |
27 Jul 1982 |
5 miles 38:07 Rhode Island |
27 Jul 1982 |
6.2 miles/10k 47:11 Rhode Island |
02 May 1982 |
13 miles 1:54:04 Newsday L.I. Marathon, Long Island, NY |
02 May 1982 |
13.1 miles 1:54:30 Newsday L.I. Marathon, Long Island, NY |
Lifting Up the World with a Oneness-Heart
-
Up to June 2004, Sri Chinmoy had lifted 7,027 individuals overhead with one arm
Weightlifting
30 Jan 1987 |
7063 ¾-lb One-arm Lift (right arm) |
04 Aug 1988 |
7040 ¼-lb One-arm Lift (left arm) |
19 Feb 2000 |
Standing Overhead Double Dumbbell Lift, 1300 lbs |
15 Oct 2000 |
1000-lb Double Dumbbell Bench Press |
28 Nov-6 Dec 2002 |
Lifted 1000 lambs in a Seated Double-Arm Overhead Lift in 6 lifting sessions, New Zealand |
10 Dec - |
Lifted 100 cows in an Overhead Platform Standing Calf Raise Lift in 3 lifting sessions, New Zealand |
12 Apr 2004 |
800-lb Seated Overhead Double Dumbbell Lift |
11 Apr 2004 |
Lifted 146,931 lbs in one day- a record number, 20,000 lbs or 10 tons more than he did at his 2002 public weightlifting exhibition |
11 April 2004 |
Lifted own body weight of 177 lbs (including apparatus) 100 times with his left arm from a seated position, 1 minute, 17 seconds |
12 Apr 2004 |
10 reps of 400-lb Crunch Abdomen-Ups |
Rainbow-Dreamers Feats
21 Apr 1996 |
Standing Vertical Jump, 18 ¼" |
03 May 1996 |
Standing High Jump, 35" |
16 Jun 1996 |
Vertical Jump onto a Platform, 33" |
22 Feb 1997 |
79 baskets out of 100 from foul line |
Rainbow-Dreamers Bodybuilding Exercises
30 Apr 1996 |
Step-Ups Wearing a Weighted Vest, 100 step-ups with 50-lb vest |
16 Jun 1996 |
Walking with a 100-lb Weighted Vest, 250 metres |
17 Aug 1996 |
Crunch Sit-Ups, 13,000 in 2 hours, 40 minutes |
Tennis
13 Jun 1977 | Sri Chinmoy started playing tennis |
Push-ups
07 Jan 1986 | 2,230 in 59 minutes 50 seconds, Kyoto, Japan |